Fangs of Destiny
by OmniShadow
Summary: InuYasha thinks he is the only one who can weild the Tetsusaiga, because he is a half-demon. But is he the only one in the world? Reviews would be appreciated...
1. Chapter 1

It was a full moon on that warm dark night as Lord Sesshomaru walked alongside a small lake inside a forest with his companions, the human girl Rin, and the demon imp Jakken. He walked at a slow pace, as if he had nowhere to walk to. Truth be told, he really had no destination planned at the time being. As was usually the case, Sesshomaru was in the front (as he was the leader), while Rin and Jakken walked behind him, quarreling amongst themselves over any random thing. Behind Rin and Jakken was a large serpentine dragon-like creature with two heads. At this point Sesshomaru had tuned out anything the human or the imp was saying, and he hadn't talked himself for hours. The last time he had opened his mouth was four hours earlier when he had to tell Rin to keep up the walking pace after she had hit Jakken on the head to end one of their arguments. At last, halfway around the lakeside, the demon lord stopped, and turned around to face his young human companion.

"Rin, you should take a short break. You've been walking for hours now. Have a drink from the lake." Sesshomaru spoke without any emotion at all, but talked to Rin in the most compassionate voice an emotionless demon like him could muster. After speaking to her, he turned back around and walked a few steps, stopped again, and looked at his surroundings.

Rin happily did as she was told, and walked over to the lake. She cupped her hands together, dipped them in the lake, and brought up a small amount of water in them, drinking it. She did this a few times. Jakken, however, ran over to his master with his Staff of Heads in his hands.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Do you have any idea yet on where we are going?"

The imp demon often aggravated Sesshomaru when he asked questions like this, and didn't bother answering him this time. Jakken understood after a few seconds, and knew better than to ask again.

After he saw that Rin had plenty to drink and a few minutes to rest, he began his slow pace of walking again. Rin quickly followed, as well as Jakken after grabbing the leash to the twin-headed dragon creature they dragged along with them.

He only walked a few steps, then stopped suddenly, turning his attention to the center of the lake. A single ripple of water spread out from the middle of the lake, and then from that point a glow formed. A head slowly emerged from the water, followed by a body, and finally the legs. There was a strong demonic aura coming from this being, and much to the demon lord's dismay, it was a female.

She wore black skintight cloth from the waist down, and a black cloth shirt with elegant silver designs on it. The shirt was a bit looser, but tight enough to show her figure. It was only completely loose past her wrists, extending out from there like a priestess' robe. Attached to her back was a sheath with a sword that had a slightly curved blade, and around her waist was a small chain only big enough to make it once around. Her eyes were dark greenish-blue, and her hair was very dark blue, dark enough to mistaken for black if not looked at closely. Her hair was long at the back and tied up near her neck to make a ponytail, with her bangs just long enough to reach the eyes. For some reason, she was looked unusually dry for someone who had just emerged from a large body of water.

She floated there for a few moments, above the center of the small lake, with her feet dangling, her toes barely touching the surface. When those few moments passed, she took short, delicate steps across the surface, walking on her toes, making single tiny ripples of water every time she touched down. She slowly made her way over to Sesshomaru. She stopped at arm's length in front of him.

"The demon lord, Sesshomaru. Wow." The woman talked in a deep, seductive, and alluring voice. She stared at him for a few moments, smiling, keeping her gaze on his face for most of the time.

Sesshomaru stood there for a moment, looking back at her, eventually replying: "Yes…what is it that want from me?" He talked back to her in the same emotionless way he always did, keeping a still face the whole time, and not moving a muscle in his body.

The woman kept looking at him for another moment, then looked around, shifting her gaze to his companions one by one, looking at Jakken, the twin-headed dragon, and finally Rin. She looked amazed to see a human girl with a demon like Sesshomaru.

"I thought you despised humans…why would you have a little human girl in your ranks?" She stared at Sesshomaru again for an answer, but none came from him. "Maybe you do have feelings after all…maybe you do have human traits in you."

Sesshomaru felt a jolt of anger course through him. For a split second, he felt like he wanted to tear this person to shreds for saying that. But for some reason, he felt like he didn't want to. There was one other thing bothering him about this person though.

"Have we met before? I don't think I've ever seen you before. How do you know this much about me?"

"Oh, don't worry, I know a lot about you," she replied, with a slight wink. She continued on. "Perhaps she's with you because you don't want to take orders from your feelings. You don't want to be controlled by your likes and dislikes. It's okay to admit you have feelings…it's not like it's going to kill you…"

Sesshomaru ignored that last comment, and asked her once again. "What do you want? You're obviously not here simply to chat."

She formed a slight smile again, and replied: "Yes, you're right. I came to obtain something of yours. I want the fang you inherited from your father. The Tensusaiga."

"Why would you want this useless sword?" He still didn't move, though he anticipated a battle coming.

"Well, if it's so useless, then why don't you just hand it over?" She held out her hand, as if expecting him to actually give it to her, with her finger pointing to the sword.

"If you want it that badly, then why don't you try to take it from me?" He took a ready stance, but still waited for his opponent to make the first move.

She hesitated for a second, then replied: "Very well, if that's the way you want it." She reached for her blade on her back, but as she reached upward, a green tendril of energy hit her arm and smacked it away from the handle of her weapon. Sesshomaru still stood across from her, keeping his stance. He had his arm straight out at his side, with his index and middle fingers extended from his hand, the tendril of energy attached to them. He called it back immediately after it hit the woman's arm.

"No," Sesshomaru said. "I want to see you fight without the aid of a weapon. I can see that you are a demon. Let me see your abilities."

He made the first move. The demon lord dashed forward with lightening speed and attempted to slash at the woman with his claws. With the same speed, she crouched slightly, and leapt out of the way. Sesshomaru followed her, and they ran through the forest, side by side, as flashes of light, while they took swipes at each other with their claws. None of the blows connected on either side, although a few small trees were knocked down as a result of missed and deflected attacks.

Jakken made an effort to chase after them, but Rin held him back, telling the imp that Lord Sesshomaru could handle this on his own. So they just stood there, watching as the two streaks of light fled through the forest around them, trying to keep up with each other. Once in a while the streaks would slow down enough to form actual bodies for a split second, as one would attack and the other would defend.

After several blows were attempted by both sides, the woman dashed forward and jumped upward, where she landed on the top of a tree, and leapt from there upward in the air, flying forward over the trees. Sesshomaru did the same a second later, jumping to a different tree, and leaping in the air from it.

Once in the air, Sesshomaru extended the two fingers from his hand again, and launched a long, green, glowing whip of energy at his female opponent. To his surprise, she did the exact same thing, only lashing out a blue whip of energy instead. She used her whip to knock his out of the way, and they ended up wrapping around one another. They both landed in a fairly open area near the lake, and played tug-of-war with each other's attacks. The woman seemed to be having more difficulty than Sesshomaru. It was at this point that the demon lord realized he didn't have a name for this opponent.

"You are quite formidable. Your strength almost matches mine. You are truly a skilled and powerful demon. What is your name?"

The woman gave a slight chuckle. "It's about time you cared. You are everything I expected you to be. My name is Kyotai. You shouldn't forget it soon, I hope," she said with another wink.

"No. I shouldn't," Sesshomaru replied as he exerted more force on his pull, and gave his side a whipping motion, sending Kyotai flying straight into the lake with a big splash that got Jakken soaked but missed Rin. Jakken was annoyed at the fact that it hit him and not her, even though they were standing right next to each other.

Sesshomaru slowly walked toward the lake as the water calmed. Kyotai emerged from the lake again, but unlike before, she was completely soaked. "That was impressive, Lord Sesshomaru. You have me defeated. I look forward to the next time we meet." She gave another slight wink, and dove back into the water. Sesshomaru could feel her presence disappear from within the lake a few seconds later. _At least she knows when to give up_, Sesshomaru thought to himself.

He turned around to look at his traveling partners. He looked past the soaked Jakken complaining, and was relieved to see that Rin was okay. He looked up to the sky for a moment, looking at the near full moon.

"We had better get moving again," He told them, and started walking. He thought back to his fight with Kyotai a few minutes earlier. Rin caught up with him, and could've sworn that she had seen the slightest smile stretch across her master's lips.


	2. Chapter 2

InuYasha and his friends walked down a mountainside in the light of the afternoon. It was a fairly open area, with a few trees here and there, and many rocks and boulders littered everywhere on the slanted land. There was even the odd cabin built near or inside clusters of trees in some places. They had only made it halfway down when they decided to stop for lunch in the shade of a patch of trees.

InuYasha had perched himself on a high tree branch, where he ate his bag of fried potato chips alone. Miroku sat leaning against the trunk of a tree neighboring the one InuYasha was on. Kagome, Sango, Shippou, and Kilala sat on a blanket Kagome set out for them while they ate. Miroku joined the others' picnic when the food was ready for them, and InuYasha joined them when he exhausted his bag of chips.

"Once again an excellent meal brought to us by Kagome," Miroku complimented.

"Yes, I agree. This is delicious," Sango added.

"Yes, Kagome's meals are the best," Shippou also added.

InuYasha sat there and continued eating. He looked up to see Miroku staring straight at him. "What? Ah, the food's alright, I suppose." After adding his comment in, he continued eating, unaware of the annoyed look on Kagome's face.

"Sit!" Kagome shouted the word firmly, and InuYasha slammed hard into the ground, as if gravity had multiplied on his body. Kagome stomped off away from the picnic and away from the trees, rambling on about how insensitive InuYasha was about her cooking.

"This seems to happen every time we eat with them together," Miroku commented with obviousness.

"Yet he never seems to learn," Sango added.

Kagome had walked a fair distance from the trees now, and when InuYasha was able to get up again, he noticed a shadow of a figure racing towards Kagome. "Kagome! Wait!"

"Oh no! If you think I'm gonna forgive you that easily, then you're sadly mist-ahhh!" The shadowed figure leapt for Kagome, and she ducked out of the way for his attack. It turned around, and went for her again. This time InuYasha was given just enough time to pull his sword, the Tetsusaiga, jump in between the two, and deflect the attacker with the enlarged blade. The shadow went flying backward, landed, and revealed himself.

He was slightly taller than InuYasha, and very muscular. He had a black pair of jeans on and no shirt. He had almost no hair except for a single ponytail that came out of the back of his head. His eyes were black and cold. All down his left arm was a line of spikes on the outside, each the size of one of his index fingers. They started at the shoulder, and ended at his forearm, with a single spike on the back of his hand. Each of the spikes slightly curved in the direction away from his shoulder. In his right hand he held a blade about half the size of a normal sword.

InuYasha looked back at Kagome. "What are you waiting for? Get to safety!"

"Right," Kagome answered, and ran back to where the others were by the trees. After he could see that she was safely far away, InuYasha switched his gaze back to the unknown assailant.

"You! What's your problem? What do you have against Kagome?"

"Nothing at all," the attacker replied. "I just needed to use her to draw you out in the open like this. You're so predictable."

"What? What do you want from me?"

"Only the weapon you currently hold in your hands. The Tetsusaiga. I'll assume you're not just going to hand it over, so it looks like I'm going to have to take it by force." The attacker got in a battle stance.

"Yeah, I guess you're gonna have to try." InuYasha also got in a battle stance.

After a few moments of staring each other down, InuYasha was the first to strike. He lunged at his opponent with his huge blade, but his target was too fast. By the time he was half way with his attack, the enemy had already leapt behind him, used his blade to knock the Tetsusaiga out of InuYasha's hands, and kicked the half demon forward out of the way.

The attacker walked up to the blade, and tried to pick it up, but received a shock when he touched it. "Ah, so it's true. There is a barrier on the blade."

InuYasha got up quickly, and started walking toward his opponent. "Heh, so you are a demon. You can't even pick it up, let alone use it. You still want it?"

"Of course. I don't intend on using it myself."

"Well, you're still not getting it!" InuYasha lunged forward again, bringing one of his claws out. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he shouted as he slashed at his opponent. Once again, the enemy demon was too quick. He stepped to the side, let InuYasha's attack through, and grabbed his attacking arm at the last second, swinging him around and throwing him off to the side.

"Who the hell are you?" InuYasha said as he stood back up again, using his hand to wipe a small amount of blood from the corner of his mouth.

The attacker gave a small chuckle. "My true name is Ryetsu, but I'm more commonly referred to as Stinger, for obvious reasons." He raised his left arm in front of him as he said this to showcase the string of spikes on it.

"Stinger, eh? The names for you demons just seem to be getting more and more pathetic."

Stinger gave another small chuckle. "The fact that you're a demon with human blood in you is far more pathetic."

"Yeah, well I'm the only one that can wield the Tetsusaiga because of that fact."

"That's what you think, dog-boy." Stinger gave a smile.

"What the hell are you talking about?" InuYasha wondered aloud. Instead of answering, Stinger charged at InuYasha, and attacked him with the spikes on his arm. InuYasha leaned back and to the side at the last second, and the spikes whizzed by his chest, a hairs width from his robe. InuYasha ran around the outside of that spiked arm, and made a dash for his sword. His attention wasn't even on his opponent anymore. He was just worried about the sword.

InuYasha's friends all watched the fight from a distance, knowing that it probably wouldn't be a wise choice to interfere. Kagome could see Stinger going for InuYasha again, but InuYasha had his back turned and wasn't watching his opponent at all. She could see that he was more worried about getting his weapon back.

"InuYasha!" she shouted. "Watch out! He's still attacking you!"

InuYasha didn't respond. He just kept racing for the Tetsusaiga. He figured that talking would only slow him down.

"InuYasha!" Everyone was trying to shout at him now, but the half-demon was still too stubborn to listen.

Kagome had to think of something fast. There was only one thing she was able to come up with at the moment. "InuYasha…sit!"

InuYasha was immediately halted from running, and slammed into the ground by those words. Stinger went flying over the body now pressed into the ground, because he had leapt into the air to make his attack. InuYasha looked at Kagome with annoyance until he saw the body flash over him. Then he understood.

InuYasha grabbed his sword immediately when he was able to move again, and, thinking strategically for a change, decided not to get up, and let his enemy come to him instead. Stinger tried to strike again, and when he was in range, InuYasha brought the blade up in an upward slashing motion. Stinger caught it just in time, and did the best he could to stop his attack and leap backwards. He managed to prevent himself from being sliced in half, but there was a large slash across his chest and torso, going from his waist on his right side to his left shoulder.

"And here I thought your brain didn't have the capacity for a maneuver like that, dog-boy." Stinger was holding his torso with his right arm. He dropped the blade it was holding during the slash.

"Yeah, you better watch out, I'll surprise ya," InuYasha said, out of arrogance.

"Yeah, we'll just see how many surprises you have left when your precious Tetsusaiga is torn away from you. You'd be useless in a fight without it. That day will come, I assure you." With that, Stinger dashed off into the distance. InuYasha chased after him, but somehow lost him when he hit a patch of trees. It was like he had disappeared in the bushes.

When he got back to the group, they quickly packed up their stuff, and started walking down the mountain again. InuYasha and Kagome took the front, with Sango and Miroku a few steps behind them, and Shippou and Kilala teetering back and forth between the pairs.

While they were walking, Kagome suddenly looked at InuYasha. "Aren't you glad I was there to help you? You could've been killed…"

InuYasha didn't even return the look. "What are you talking about? I didn't need any help. I was in control of the situation the whole time."

"You weren't even paying attention to your opponent!"

"I had my eyes on him at all times!"

"You had your back turned to him when you went for the Tetsusaiga!"

"Maybe I was lulling him into a false of security! How did you help at all?"

"Does this ring a bell? Sit boy!" With those words from Kagome's mouth, InuYasha slammed straight into the ground again. Kagome kept walking, annoyed and ranting about how ungrateful InuYasha is.

"She sure seems to be getting used to saying that word." Miroku commented.

Sango noticed something rubbing against her behind, and glared dangerously at Miroku when she discovered it was his hand. "And you seem to be getting used to the feel of my butt!" She put a handprint on the monk's face with a slap, and stormed off like Kagome just did.

While the two girls walked off, Miroku stopped for a moment by InuYasha, who was still lying on the ground from Kagome's "sit" command.

"Some things never seem to change, do they?" Miroku said to the half-demon.

InuYasha looked up at him. "Yeah, tell me about it. Those girls are impossible."


	3. Chapter 3

Stinger had felt quite a sting for a while from that huge open wound he received from InuYasha. It didn't hurt much anymore to him; he was a demon after all. It would heal easily in a few days time. He was more worried about the punishment he might be getting from his master for his failure. He slowly walked back to the temple ruins where his master had taken residence. It looked like a monks' temple, with only half a roof, half of the side walls, and a full back wall. The whole floor area was still there, but it was almost completely shadowed by what was left of the roof. It was nightfall by the time Stinger had made it to this place.

He walked into the temple, onto the main floor. He looked to his right to see a woman in tight black clothes leaning against a pillar.

"Looks like the Stinger got quite a sting himself," she said, giving off a laugh of mockery.

"Shut up. I'm really not in the mood for this." He turned and faced her, giving a threatening look.

"Well, maybe if you had won, you would be in the mood."

Stinger was getting irritated already. "And that about you? I don't see you holding a fang either."

"That's enough, both of you. Kyotai, you failed just as much as Ryetsu did." The voice belonged to a shadow somewhere above them, near the back of the temple. "I shouldn't even let you live after that."

"Please, my lord. I will get it next time, I guarantee you." Kyotai stopped leaning against the pillar, and bowed as she begged.

"Yes…I won't fail again. I promise you my lord." Stinger also bowed.

"Stop your groveling. I have already decided to let you live. You will both get second chances. But if you fail me again, the consequences will make you wish they had killed you."

"Yes, my lord. Thank you." Stinger was the first to answer, following it with a bow.

"Yes, I am very grateful." Kyotai also bowed, her voice sounding calmer than Stingers'.

The voice spoke again. "Here. They're pieces of the Shikon Jewel. You can each have one. There's no reason for failure now." A pair of tiny jewel fragments came flying out of the darkness, and the two warriors each caught one.

"Thank you, my lord," the two of them said simultaneously, bowing.

The voice spoke yet again, but to neither of them. "Rannoc, would you like to try first?"

The attention of both warriors was drawn to a pillar closer to the back of the temple, where a figure was leaning against it, half in shadow. They could see that he had a brown hat, long black hair, a long gray coat, and black pants of some kind, although the material was hard to define from their distance. "Sure, might be fun."

"I do not have any more fragments of the jewel, so you're on your own."

"It doesn't matter. I don't need some jewel to help me anyway." This being didn't talk with the same amount of respect that the others did. Whether or not it offended the being behind the voice was difficult to tell.

"Well, I'm off then." Rannoc got off the pillar, and started walking toward where the entrance to the temple should have been. As he walked out of the temple, flocks of ravens fluttered all over the place, and seemed to follow him out. It slightly bothered Kyotai, but not Stinger as much.

When all was said and done, the remaining two walked out of the temple.

"Do not fail me again," the voice repeated as they left.

When they got just outside the temple, Kyotai stopped and addressed Stinger with a "Hey."

"What do you want now?" Stinger wasn't feeling very friendly at the moment.

"Here. Take mine. I'm not going to have a need for it." She tossed him the jewel fragment she had received.

"Uh…thanks." Stinger sounded like he was having trouble saying it.

"Yeah, whatever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to." With that, she walked off at a quick pace.

_Sesshomaru is almost too much of an important matter for you,_ he thought. _This is only going to end in disaster._

Nightfall was approaching quickly, and InuYasha and the gang approached a town for a place to rest. There were small houses all over the place, and there was a small moat around the perimeter. It was a decently populated town. People were still scurrying about, and torches were just starting to go up. A sliver of the sun could barely be seen on the horizon.

The group reached the bridge that was the entrance to the town, and asked the nearest villager where they were able to stay for the night. He pointed at the biggest building at the center of the town. The group thanked him, and headed toward that building. They walked up to the main door, knocked, and waited for an answer. The door slid open, and a man with long black hair in a blue kimono was revealed.

Sango was the one to ask. "Excuse me sir, but one of the villagers informed me that this place had extra rooms for us to stay in for tonight."

"We certainly do, young lady. Enough for you and all of your friends." The man's voice was calm and sincere.

"Thank you sir. Who is the owner of this place, if I may ask?"

"That would be me, fair lady. You and your friends may call me Derin. Your rooms are this way." He led them down a hallway, and gave one room to the guys, and one to Kagome. Derin put his arm around Sango's shoulder, and led her toward the doorway. "You are a beautiful woman indeed," he said, making Sango giggle slightly, and making Miroku jealous, although he wouldn't show it. "You can sleep with me tonight, fait lady."

"What?" Sango exclaimed, and looked up ad the man.

"Can I ask you a question?" Derin said, taking his arm away from her and facing her.

"Uh…sure," Sango answered, confused slightly.

Derin took one of her hands with both of his. "Would you do the honor of bearing my children?"

Sango took a moment to register what she had just heard, and without thinking, gave him a hard slap across the face. After she realized what she had just done, she tried her hardest to apologize.

"I'm so sorry…it's a force of habit," she tried to explain, as Miroku was almost rolling around on the floor laughing at what just happened. "Are you alright?" she asked Devin.

He moved his hands from his face back to Sango's hands. "Yes, I'm always fine as long as you are here with me, earthly angel."

Sango slapped him again, and stomped out of the room, shouting: "Just what I need, another Miroku on my hands! Are there any decent guys left on Earth?"

Devin chased after her, and Miroku was able to stop himself from laughing just long enough to chase after them both and try to stop him. Shippou and Kilala headed off to their rooms, leaving InuYasha and Kagome alone in the women's room.

"I'm not getting involved. I'll never get to sleep if I do. Good night." With that, he walked off to his room to get some sleep. Kagome did the same.

Later into the evening, when everyone else had just gotten to sleep, Miroku got up from where he was supposed to be sleeping, and crept out of his room. InuYasha woke up for a split second to catch him leave, but didn't care enough to take any action, so he went back to sleep.

Miroku went out for a little walk through the hallways of the building, making sure to stay quiet as to not wake up any of the people who were able to get to sleep. He walked out to the main hall for the first time to see Devin sitting on the floor against a pillar looking at him.

"I think we should have a little talk," Miroku negotiated.

"I agree," Devin replied.

Miroku took a seat against the pillar next to the one Devin was against, facing him.

"Are you in a relationship with that woman?" Devin asked.

"Which one? You mean Sango?"

"Sango…what a beautiful name…" Devin stared off into nothing for a second.

"I take it you like her then," the monk said.

"Is it really that obvious?" Devin said curiously.

"You act the exact same way I do towards her."

"Then you like her too…"

"Now you're getting it."

"I apologize. She's all yours." Devin had a look of shame on his face.

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get some sleep." With that, Miroku got up, and went back to his room. Devin sat there alone for a moment, then got up and went to sleep also.

After both men were back to their rooms, Sango came out from behind the pillar where she was hiding, and thought for a moment.

"Miroku…"

She stood and thought for a moment, looking at the spot where Miroku was sitting when talking to Devin. When she was done, she stealthily made it back to her room, and had the best sleep she had had in a long time.


End file.
